GZA and Black Lips

I've already made mention of this show. I think that pretty well covers it. Here's a link for GZA, for fun.

Camera Obscura

Would it make any sense to describe Camera Obscura's sound as pretty happy/melancholy? 'Cuz it is.

Jason Lytle

Jason Lytle, formerly of Grandaddy, is flying solo. His music now is only slightly less electronic-pop-y.

Chairlift

My strongest memory of Chairlift is of a fan blowing Caroline Polachek's hair in slo-motion. It was a bit hypnotizing.

Of course it's probably fair to say that the music played a part in that. Chairlift has a pretty strong 80s vibe to them, which p.s. is more than okay in my book. The vocals however are very much the 00s, and by that I mean super cute and female a la Regina Spektor, Feist, or Zooey Deschanel.

Loney Dear

So as it turns out Loney Dear is really just a one man show, the Swedish Emil Svanängen, who travels with a backing band. You'd never know this by watching them perform together; I certainly didn't. They genuinely seemed to enjoy themselves, they played cohesively, and there was no spotlight hogging to be found.

Since I'm in the mood for band comparisons I'm gonna go ahead and call them/him a happier, more melodic Postal Service.

Viva Voce

Well. I sure am taking my sweet time with this. And I gotta say that this does not make it easy on the old memory.

I'm finally on a new day. The day my camera was close to death. Boo.

Anywho, here's what I can recall of Viva Voce. Their look said hip mod rockers AND so did their sound. They reminded me of a less produced, less heavy, less glam version of The Raveonettes.

Beach House

Beach House could maybe be described as somber chamber rock . . . or that description could be way off. What is certain though is that both the band members and myself were "tipsy" for the show. Victoria Legrand (vocalist) dropped lyrics and I dropped my camera. Still, I think it's fair to say that a good time was had by all.


P.S. End day two.

Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele

So you know how you arrive early at a show just to get a good spot for the headliner and then the opener ends up being the band that catches your heart? Well, that's totally what happened with Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele. The music is happy, the lyrics are witty and funny, and the ukulele is (per usual) amazing.

Black Lips

I saw the Black Lips twice during SXSW. The pictures here are from the first (and far superior) show. The second go around the guys were somewhere between wasted and obliterated. The show was still a worthy catch thanks to an equally drunken appearance from GZA. Still, let's focus on the first show.
The music was incredible. They describe themselves as "flower punk" but in person you don't really hear the "flower" part. It's wonderfully loud, in-your-face, garage rock with a hint of blues and psych. And the performance is a hot mess. All the guys pour sweat and at least one of them smells pretty rank. Two very memorable moments -- The guy with the gold grill intentionally rammed his head into the mic . . . because he fu*king means it AND then, the guy with the poncho threw up mid lyric without taking a pause . . . because he also fu*king means it.

Delta Spirit

When you watch Delta Spirit workin' it up on stage, you really get the sense that they're aiming to please. And that's a great thing. Also they get props for incorporating a trash can lid into their repoirtoire.
On a side note, they toured with The Shins throughout May, and having seen both of these bands live, I'm fairly comfortable stating that the pairing seems quite complimentary. Delta Spirit is a slightly harder/darker take on Shin-style music. Also a great thing.